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Township History

The following brief history comes from a letter dated 1961 which was written to Mr. Bruce Henry from Genevieve Blatt Secretary of Internal Affairs.

Loyalsock Township was created from portions of Muncy Township in February of 1786. At the time both townships were part of Northumberland County. Loyalsock Township was formed by petition to the Northumberland County quarter sessions court meeting in its February session.

The creation of the new township was the first of several reductions in the territory of Muncy Township which, according to one historian, in the late 1800’s encompassed an area large enough to make twenty townships. The reason given by this same historian for the creation of Loyalsock Township was an increase in population which made it necessary to divide Muncy Township. Nine years later Lycoming County was erected by an Act of the General Assembly signed into law by the Governor on April 13, 1795 and Loyalsock Township then became part of the new county.

The territory of the new township lay between the Loyalsock and Lycoming creeks and it was named after the former. The word “Loyalsock” is a corruption of the Indian word “Lawi-Saquick” which means middle creek. The Indians called the creek Lawi-Saquick because it lies midway between the Muncy and Lycoming Creeks. Early historians reported that the township was bordered on the east and west by the two creeks but extended northward for “an indefinite distance.” This northern portion was “wholly uninhabited and wild.”

The histories of Lycoming County do not give a definite account of the amount of territory which Loyalsock Township lost through annexation of its territory to other municipalities which were created after it. One work, “The History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania” edited by John F. Meginness stated that Loyalsock Township was originally next to Muncy, the largest township in the county “but was gradually shorn of much of its territory to make room for other townships. Three-quarters of the township was taken for the location of what is now the City of Williamsport.” Frederic A. Godcharles in his work, “Pennsylvania - Political, Governmental, Military and Civil” states that Hepburn Township was erected from portions of Loyalsock township in 1804.

The county assessor in 1788 reported 23,146 taxable acres of land in Loyalsock Township, 61 horses and 64 cows. The real estate valuation for the township was listed as 19,079 pounds and county and states taxes for the township totaled 24 pounds 10 shillings and 50 pounds 3 shillings, respectively. In 1796 a county enumeration of taxable inhabitants indicated 100 taxables for Loyalsock Township. A similar enumeration for 1880 disclosed 149 taxable inhabitants.

According to the 1890 census the population of Loyalsock was 2,498. At this time the township stood as seventeenth in size among Lycoming County municipalities and contained 15,360 acres. The township was then bordered on the east by Montoursville Borough, Fairfield and Upper Fairfield Townships; on the north by Eldred and Hepburn Townships, on the west by Lycoming and Old Lycoming Townships and on the south by the City of Williamsport and the river.

In the late 1900’s Loyalsock Township had the greatest population of any township in Lycoming County and had more school houses (12) than any other township. The township also contained three churches and a chapel, one of which was the Limestone Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1888.

The land area of Loyalsock Township was 20.3 square miles as of 1940. The United States Bureau of the Census publication “Areas of the United States 1940” is the latest available source of data for land area of municipalities since areas have not been adjusted for annexation since 1940.